Abstract
Alcohol misuse is widespread, creating serious health and parenting harms. It is important to explore the motivations behind why people drink and the modifiable factors determining severity of the behavior. While alcohol-related research has historically focused on men, the closing gender gap in alcohol consumption highlights a need for targeted research on women. Parenting stress is a commonly reported motivation for maternal drinking. Likewise, parenting stress is associated with parenting sense of competence. However, there is no research connecting parenting sense of competence with alcohol use directly, nor indirectly via moderation of the alcohol and parenting stress relationship. The current study explored these associations and investigated the potential moderation through a questionnaire completed by a sample of 406 mothers. There were significant correlations between all factors, however, parenting sense of competence was not a significant moderator of the parenting stress and alcohol use relationship. Specifically, as a mother's parenting stress increases, her confidence in the parenting role tends to decline and she is more likely to misuse alcohol. Despite this, variation in parenting sense of competence among women was not significantly correlated with one's likelihood to drink when coping with stress. Further exploration of these relationships is required, with replication of the current study following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
In Australia, alcohol has long been viewed as a symbol of mateship and camaraderie, among males, forming part of the romantic Australian legend [1, 2]
The current study aimed to assess the correlations between parenting stress and alcohol consumption in a non-clinical sample of Australian mothers, while investigating potential moderation by parenting sense of competence
As hypothesized, parenting stress was positively correlated with alcohol consumption, suggesting that as a mother’s parental stress rises, her alcohol consumption tends to increase
Summary
In Australia, alcohol has long been viewed as a symbol of mateship and camaraderie, among males, forming part of the romantic Australian legend [1, 2]. In recent decades, a growing research base has highlighted the damaging effects of alcohol use, with a strong focus on the health consequences and motivations behind such behavior. Alcohol is a substance which depresses the central nervous system, affecting neurotransmission and autonomic activity [5]. It inhibits motor and sensory processes, slowing cognition and impeding normal judgement [6]. The use of alcohol is motivated by four major factors—social, enhancement, conformity and coping [7], the most concerning of which is coping [8]. One major trigger for the need to Frontiers in Global Women’s Health | www.frontiersin.org
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